Rocky Mountain High

As the time between posts gets increasingly longer, I find myself scrambling for topics to resussitate the blog before it flatlines. It's been about a month and a half since Cameron's "Religiosity" post, and I think I've found a couple things to write about.

First, we're leaving the city for the summer and heading back to Colorado--Boulder, to be exact. I've landed a summer job at a firm in a nearby town, and we subletted a place near CU campus so we'll be within walking distance from some of the friends we made in Boulder.

I thought I'd tell you now so that you can reschedule that trip to NYC to the fall and book a trip to Boulder sometime during the summer....

Second, um...nothing. There is no second thing. I lied. I was just trying to get your attention. To compensate, I suppose I could insert a picture we took at the Bronx Zoo yesterday:

Adam Wayment: Religious?

Hello again, my friends! Quick story of Burley interest: So I got an email the other day from my sister Callie, a research assistant in the Psychology department here at BYU. It contained a link to what appears to be a psychology project being conducted by some psych students on people's perceptions of religiosity based on photographs. I was intrigued, so I pulled up the page. Turns out it's a survey in which they pop up about 80 pictures of individuals in succession, and I'm supposed to rank each picture on a 1-to-6 type spectrum from "Not Religious" to "Extremely Religous". I figured, "Why not?" and started rating pictures, more than once feeling a little harsh in my superficial judgments. Soon, however, I started to see faces that looked vaguely familiar, like I'd seen them before somewhere.
Suddenly, an unmistakeable visage appeared on the screen: our very own Adam Taylor Wayment, as portrayed on the left. I also realized that I recognized some of the others from my earlier years at BYU. Some had even been in my previous wards. Putting two and two together, I figure that these psych students probably pulled a bunch of old mug shots from the student I.D. center archives for their study. The ethics seem a little sketchy to me, but hopefully they at least have all the requisite signatures and permissions to raid the university's databases like that.
Anyway, after finishing the survey, I breathed a sigh of relief when my picture hadn't popped up among the ones that were profaned by this less-than-flattering survey. But the question in my mind remains: How would YOU rate that mug? I mean, seriously?!

Cameron, the True Standard of Religiosity










P.S. Try out the survey. I'm interested to know what you folks think of it.

P.P.S. Either picture is a great desktop backgroud if tiled. A nice addition to your Burley Shrine. I know you have one.

P.P.P.S. I gave the boy a 5 (Highly Religious). I might be biased though....

What did you do in Burley?

I don't get to go back to the motherland that often, but usually when I do, I wonder how I made it.

You know how, when driving back to Burley (if you take the Declo Highway into town) you don't see a single house until after you go over a certain ridge east of Declo, when all of a sudden see the whole Magic Valley? Back when I was a young lad I thought it was a sight to behold--a vast population in the otherwise barren landscape of southern Idaho.

Now is like: "This is it? This is where I grew up? What the heck did I do? There's nothing here...."

Old pictures like these, however, offer insightful reminders of what, more or less, I did to pass the time in my hometown. If you were not part of the "cool" crowd at school (where getting drunk and vandalizing were pretty much your main options), you had to be a bit more creative. (As you could probably guess, we were nearing the limit of our creative genius when Steve, Cameron, and I decided to visit department stores armed with nothing but a camera.)

These pictures were shot--I'm guessing--sometime in 1997. Whether it was before graduation or after, I don't know....

Anyhow, I have some pretty recent news on both Steve and Cameron, but I won't tell you too much.

Cameron has posted his own update. Keep reading...

Steve as been married for over 5 years now, and they have a house in Burley. (They live in my parent's ward, for that matter.) He is teaching at the high school and (I think) taking classes either toward a masters degree or another type of teaching specialization.

Also, I'll let you in on what I know about other people:

Adam Wayment and wife are (still?) living in Baltimore as he works toward a PhD at Johns Hopkins.

Russell Searle and wife and kid (or are they just pregnant?) are living up in Portland (I think his wife is from up there somewhere) where he is attending dental school. He is getting through school with help from the military (one branch or another), so he is a serviceman and will be for at least a few years after he graduates....

Dave and Kate Tuft live in North Carolina where Dave is working at the Univ. of North Carolina. He's got his masters (or is getting pretty close?) and (I think) he hopes on continuing on toward a PhD or getting rich working somewhere else. They just had a baby girl in December.

That's all I can think of for now. Enjoy your March!

-Scott

PS: Most of us have blogged at least once--perhaps its time for round two: posting pictures. Kudos to Becky, who was able to do so in her first post.

Also, let me know who else we can include in our little blog. We've got more friends than this!

But Seriously Folks...

Seeing as how this Burley Blog thing has been up and running for some time now, and I have long cultivated the practice of being fashionably late, I think it's about time that I put in my two cents' worth and keep the ball rolling on this delightful Burley Blog. For those of you who may have forgotten (owing to lack of contact since soon after graduation), allow me to give you my presentation of "Cameron Beck: The Bullet-point Approach".

Name: Cameron McKell Beck
Birthdate: June 23, 1979
Sign: Cancer (the crab, not the disease)
Spouse: Laura Ann Miles Beck
Married: Dec. 27, 2001, making four years, two months, and six days since tying the knot, and not a single moment of regret
Children: 1. Colin McKell Beck, age - 1 year 3 months; 2. Unnamed Baby Beck, age - T minus 6.5 months (due around Sept 24)
Current Place of Residence: Pinnacle Reserve Apartments in Draper, UT
Occupation: Student Extraordinaire; I'm finishing up my third and last year of "The Master's Program that Wouldn't Die" in Physiology and Developmental Biology at BYU before heading on to bigger and better things
Future Plans: Bigger and better things; i.e. attending medical school at the University of Utah starting this Fall semester. Things get a little hazy after that, but I think it involves a white coat, poking and prodding people, and then they pay me money.

Well, I think that's about it for the core details. If you have any other questions regarding me, my family, or what the heck else has happened to me and mine in the intervening nine years since graduation, feel free to post your questions in the comments section and rest assured that I will answer them as completely as I can in my next blog post. For now, though, if you're not sick of hearing from me yet, I invite you to continue on to the following questionnaire which I was sent by a member of my family. I tried to answer as candidly as possible, so as to give everyone a startling glimpse of who Cameron Beck really is......but I got a little tripped up on a few of the questions. Anyway, without further ado, enjoy the "Getting to Know You" Questionnaire 2006!

1. What time did you get up this morning? .... 7:45 (It's a miracle! Colin slept in today!!!)
2. Diamonds or pearls? ... Diamonds (oooh, sparkly.........)
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? .....Chronicles of Narnia, on our anniversary, right before hitting the DQ for some phat treats.
4. What's your favorite TV show? ... Gilmore Girls, though I've never actually seen an episode on TV, only on DVD. Or maybe Arthur on PBS. It's a toss-up.
5. What did you have for breakfast this morning?... Nothing. It's Fast Sunday, see.
6. What's your favorite cuisine?... Laura's
7. What foods do you dislike? .... Most fish, any shellfish besides shrimp, and raw tomatoes
8. What is your favorite chip flavor? ... Cheddar and Sour Cream
9.What's your favorite CD at the moment?... CD? What's that? I do however have a good mix on my handheld right now. Highlights: Extreme's "Hole-Hearted", U2''s "Original of the Species", and They Might Be Giants' "She's an Angel". Rock on.
10. What kind of car do you drive? ... a 1996 Honda Civic that's going in for surgery tomorrow morning
11. Favorite sandwich?.... Peanut butter and Mom's homemade raspberry jam on wheat.
12. What characteristics do you despise? .... Refusing to make an effort.
13. Favorite item of clothing? ... My one and only band T-shirt from the Better Than Ezra show in Park City; also my collared blue Old Navy shirt with red stripes
14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?... Europe for a couple months and see everything.
15. What color is your bathroom? ... White with a navy blue shower curtain and bath mat and a picture of an angel with stars and moons on her robe and all around her. Quite relaxing, you know.
16. Favorite brand of clothing? ..... Hanes Beefy-T
17. Where would you retire to? ..... Probably Washington state, beautiful greenery and plenty of space to spread one's wings.
18. Favorite time of the day? .... About 4:00 in the morning, which I only ever see when I'm pulling an all-nighter (usually with a video game). This is the point when I'm usually on the verge of being pulled under by the riptide of loopiness, when everything starts to take on a rose-colored tint and refined sugars never tasted sweeter.
19. What was your most memorable birthday? .... My 23rd. It was my first as a married man and also my "golden" birthday (when I turned the same age as the date of my birthday). Laura made it very special for me, with help from many of you as well.
20. Where were you born? ... Woodland, CA
21. Favorite sport to watch?... College Football
22. Who do you least expect to send this back to you... Yes?
23. Person you expect to send it back first?... You.
24. What fabric detergent do you use? ... Kirkland Signature ULTRA Laundry Detergent
25. Were you named after anyone?... Yes, my older sister......get it? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
26. Do you wish on stars? ... Yes, but only A-list ones.
27. When did you last cry? .... I did get teary-eyed earlier today while watching "Finding Faith in Christ", but only briefly.
28. Do you like your handwriting?... Not especially, but, hey, it's better than yours!
29. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? .... Probably but it wouldn't be a "friends at first sight" sort of thing. I think I take a little getting used to.
30. Are you a daredevil? ...I used to be, before the-- accident (.........accident.........accident.........)31. Do looks matter?... Only when you're buying a horse.
32. How do you release anger? ...... I generally just forget about it, and if it happens again with the same person, I might get a little defensive, but I eventually end up working it out.
33. Where is your second home? .... 501 Widtsoe Building; third home: 594 Widtsoe Building; fourth home: 548 Widtsoe Building. My little world. *sigh*
34. What were your favorite toys as a child? .... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and He-Man (of course, my Ken doll and My Little Pony are close runners-up)
35. What class in High School was totally useless? .... Psychology, with Mr. Robertson, the wannabe Sigmund Freud
36. Do you use sarcasm a lot? .... Noooooo, not at all. At least, not as much as I'd like too.
37. Favorite movies? .... Hudsucker Proxy, What About Bob
38.What are your nicknames? ...... None to speak of, unless you guys only use them behind my back. And in that case, let me remain in my ignorance.
39. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? .... Yes. It's one of the few things that I don't procrastinate.
40. Do you think that you are strong? .... Does body odor count?
41. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? .... Tin Roof Sundae (can't beat the chocolate-covered peanuts)
42. What are your favorite colors? .... Blue and blue
43. What is your least favorite thing about yourself?.... My teeth (really)
44. What do you miss the most?.... Being able to sleep in as long as I want
45. Do you want everyone you sent this to to send it back?.... Only if they like me (oooooh, ouch)
46. What color pants are you wearing? .... khaki Dockers-type pants with a cuff.
47. What are you listening to right now? ..... the swoosh-swoosh, whrrr-whrrr, watery noises of the dishwasher....great, now I need to go to the bathroom........
48. Last thing you ate? .... homemade chicken pot pie and bunny-shaped biscuits, another fantastic example of Laura's cuisine.
49. If you were a CRAYON what color would you be? .... Midnight Blue
50. Last person you talked to on the phone? .... Weston Beck, when he was babysitting Colin yesterday
51. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? .... the X chromosome
52. Favorite Drink? .... Apple Beer
53. Do you wear contacts? ... nay
54. Favorite Day(s) of the Year?...Christmas, Thanksgiving, June 23, autumn afternoons, Saturdays
55. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? .... Movies, definitely movies
56. Summer or winter... Of the two, summer, hands down; early fall is, however, the closest to Eden I've ever been.
57. Hugs OR Kisses? .... As long as they're from Laura, keep 'em comin'!
58. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? .... Hot fudge brownie banana split sundae with peanuts, whipped cream and caramel sauce. I've never actually had all those things together, but doesn't it just make your mouth water thinking about it?
59. What Book(s)Are You Reading? ... Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky; I faked reading it in Mrs. Berg's Honor's english class, wrote a paper about it after only skimming the beginning and ending, got an A, and it's haunted me ever since. It's time to do penance.
60. What's On Your Mouse Pad? .... A little behind the times, aren't we? Mouse pads, ha!
61. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? .... Little people beating up little monsters while I pushed little buttons and twiddled little knobs on a little plastic thingie. Oh, wait, that was a video game. Forget I said anything.
62. Favorite Smells? .... Baking bread, roast in a crockpot after church, freshly baked brownies, taco soup in the crockpot. Seeing a pattern?
63. Rolling Stones or Beatles?.... Beatles
64. What's the furthest you've been from home? ..... The Philippines

P.S. Feel free to copy this questionnaire and post your own answers. T'would be interesting to see a day in the life of the other Burley kids out there. Till later then, my friends!

Cameron and the Draper Gang

Ann Arbor, MI

Hello Everyone,
I have had so much fun reading your BLOGS that I thought I would try to add my own. This is Becky (Blauer) Dowdle writing to you from Ann Arbor, MI where we have lived for one semester. Yes, we still keep track of our lives in semesters and probably will forever, that is if Brian ever does actually get this PhD that he is working on... (Japanese Literature Est. finish date 2009???). Anyway we are having a great time in Michigan attending football games, picking raspberries, and playing in the snow! As evidenced by 2 1/2 year old Joshua building a snowman outside our back door. ~Becky

PS~ Scott and Joanne- Brian and I are coming to NYC this weekend! The 10th and 11th (all by ourselves, imagine NYC without a STROLLER!). We are thinking of going to that great Pizza place under the Brooklyn Bridge on Friday night. We will probably take the A train there and then walk back over the bridge, weather permitting. If you guys are interested in coming just let me know, we are flexible on the time. ~Becky

Not Too Shabby...

Well, I must say that the Burley Blog is off to a pretty good start. Not surprisingly the women lead and the men lag behind. I’ve bugged Dave (the new father) and Cameron a little about it, but haven’t yet received a response…. I still need to track down Adam, Russell, Steve, and maybe a few more guys to make this blog a more well rounded. Then again, there are several girls that we still need to recruit.

Though the blogs posted thus far are exceptional, let me (try to) raise the bar by adding a picture. Wish me luck...
There. That wasn't so tough. This is a pic I took yesterday of my wife and fellow Burleyite, Joanne. We went to the Guggenheim Museum with my sister for a few hours.

Those who are as poorly cultured as I am may only recognize the Guggenheim as that one building that Will Smith breaks into while following an alien at the beginning of Men in Black. Honesly, I think that was probably the main reason I went. For my sister and other art lovers it's a happy place.

Joanne and I weren't sure, but we think we may have spotted someone else from Burley there: Cassie Beck. Remember her? She was a grade younger than most of us, and, being a Beck, related to Cameron somehow. Anyway, that was weird. Usually don't bump into folks from Burley in Manhattan.

That's where we now live, by the way. Perhaps now would be a good time to catch people up on what Joanne and I have been up to....

After getting hitched nearly five (!) years ago, Joanne and I have lived in Utah, Arizona, Oregon, California, and Colorado. This time around, it's New York City.

We moved to NYC last August so that I could attend law school at Columbia. At first, we really didn't think that a couple country yokels like us could handle the big city. After studying it out and talking to people who had done the NYC thing (including the Dowdles), we decided that we'd do it--for the adventure, if nothing else. So far, we've really enjoyed it.

Well, there you go. The first post with pictures--and two at that!

This day will go down in Burley history

...or not. This is either an incredibly ingenious plan (one of the many, I wish I could say) to bring Burley people together as the next logical iteration of BMail (incidently, other Blogspot members have already used the terms "BMail,""Burley," and "BurleyBlog"), or a horrible attempt (one of the many, I'm sorry to admit) at being the glue that bonds Burleyites together.

It is up to you to determing the fate of the Burley Blog! So whatever it takes for you to motivate yourselves to do something--DO IT! Then jump online and quickly blog away before the feeling fades and you find yourself falling back into the loathesome pit of unproductivity from whence you came!

PS: Another thing to do while you're on that motivation kick is to email other Burleyites and tell them about this blog.

PPS: Perhaps a post- postscript isn't the best place to finally get to the point of this post, but it will have to do.... The purpose of this blog is to replace BMail.

BMail, if you don't know, was a sorry attempt at monthly emails between Burley friends, giving updates and pictures of people from back home. That didn't seem to fly since the emails were huge and people had dialup.

The next iteration of BMail was an illegitimate webpage (hosted by my former employer for quite some time without them knowing) that I periodically updated with news and pictures from the Burley group.

This Blog is the logical next step in the evolution of BMail. Burleyites will (ideally) post updates on friends and family that they think other Burleyites may actually care about. The best part (other than I no longer have to do the updates manually) is that… um… I no longer have to do the updates manually. Also, the topic/post format allows for more interactivity, discussions, etc.

Enjoy!